Jeanne Demessieux

about

Born in Montpellier, Jeanne Demessieux was the second child of Marie-Madeleine Demessieux (née Mézy) and Étienne Demessieux. After taking private piano lessons with her elder sister, Yolande, Jeanne entered the Montpellier Conservatoire in 1928. Four years later, she obtained first prizes in solfège and piano. In 1933, she began her studies at the Paris Conservatoire; studying piano with Simon Riera and Magda Tagliaferro, harmony with Jean Gallon, counterpoint and fugue with Noël Gallon, and composition with Henri Büsser. The same year, she was appointed titular organist at Saint-Esprit, a post she held for 29 years. From 1936-39, Demessieux studied organ privately with Marcel Dupré, whose organ class at the Conservatoire she joined in 1939. After receiving a first prize in organ performance and improvisation in 1941, Demessieux studied privately with Dupré in Meudon for five more years, before she played her début concert at Salle Pleyel in Paris in 1946. This was the beginning of her career as an international concert organist. Demessieux gave more than 700 concerts in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and the United States. She had memorized more than 2,500 works, including the complete organ works of Bach, Franck, Liszt, and Mendelssohn, and all of Dupré's organ works up to Opus 41. A prolific recording artist, she was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque Award in 1960 for her complete recording of Franck's organ works (1958). In 19

top songs

albums

Six Etudes - Sept Meditations sur Le Saint-Esprit

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Demessieux: Complete Organ Works

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Demessieux: 6 Études, Op. 5 & 7 Meditations sur le Saint-Esprit, Op. 6

Demessieux: Complete Works for Organ

Jeanne Demessieux - The Decca Legacy (Vol. 5: Jeanne Demessieux at La Madeleine, Paris)

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Jeanne Demessieux - The Decca Legacy (Vol. 3: Jeanne Demessieux plays Franck, Liszt and Widor at Victoria Hall, Geneva)

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Jeanne Demessieux - The Decca Legacy (Vol. 1: Jeanne Demessieux at St. Mark's, London)

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A Tribute To Jeanne Demessieux

Franck, Vol. 03 : Compete Organ Works

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Jeanne Demessieux - The Decca Legacy

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An Introduction to Music of the Baroque Period

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Chill With Bach

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